eThekwini Municipality to face court challenge over 'appointment of incompetent people'

The DA on Thursday said it has taken the eThekwini Municipality to court over the appointment of three senior officials, which the party claims was irregular.

The municipality recently appointed Lindokuhle Mkhize to the position of Executive Director - Operations Management, Ednick Msweli as Executive Director for Technical Services and Bheki Mkhize as Executive Director for Public Safety.

In response, the City called its own briefing on Thursday to introduce the newly appointed officials and explain how they were appointed but the briefing was postponed as the matter is in court. In its statement issued later, the City said it will respond and present its full position in court.

 “Since the matter is now before the courts, our full position will be presented there. However, we must state that we firmly believe all due processes were followed, which is why Council deemed it appropriate to approve the appointments.

"It is important to note that the positions in question have been vacant for an extended period, an undesirable situation for administrative stability and accountability. We view this action by the DA as yet another attempt to destabilise the municipality and hinder its ability to build adequate capacity to deliver essential services to our residents,” read the statement.

The matter is expected to be heard in the Durban High Court next week.

The DA’s eThekwini mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen on Thursday accused the ANC-led  municipality of 'rushing to hire its comrades in these positions because it knows that it will not come back to power next year'.

Hoosen stated that the party felt very strongly that it should act swiftly to challenge the appointments for the best interests of eThekwini residents.

In its court papers, the DA argues for the reversal of the appointments saying they did not follow the legislated processes and requirements and was clearly rushed through. If the court reverses the appointments and there are costs, the DA wants the responsible person for the irregular appointments to be held liable for the costs, including the compensation of the employed candidates, if they demand so.

“In the course of the recruitment process, the Municipal Manager should have followed the very precise regulations that govern the appointment of senior staff. However as you will discover from our papers, the entire process was rushed through and most of the requirements were not complied with,” said Hoosen.

He argued that the shortlisting and selection process must be done within 30 days, however, these deadlines were missed by months which is against the regulations that governs the appointment of senior staff.

Hoosen said as per qualifications requirements for the position of a Public Safety head, the applicant should possess a law degree, however, Mkhize was hired with a BA degree.

He further argued that Msweli may have met the requirements in terms of the qualifications but his track record as the director of the same department was a disaster and the party questioned what  'competency the interview panel saw in him to recommend him for the position'.

“The state of the City’s infrastructure is where it is today because of Msweli’s failures. Under his nose we have seen sewer flowing into our beaches. We have 58% of water loss because of him yet the City is rewarding him with a senior position and more money. If the DA was governing the City it would have fired him long ago, yet we see him being rewarded for his incompetency,” said Hoosen.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za